LULJETA DISHA, ERJON SPAHIU, MANJOLA SHYTI, FLORINDA CFARKU
Abstract
All medical radiological departments that use X-ray modalities, from the simplest intraoral dental unit to the most complicated interventional ones, would ensure high reliability in obtaining a high-quality image if they were subject to a periodic quality control program (QC). The purpose of this study was to assess whether the main exposure parameters for panoramic and intraoral units used by dental clinics in Albania are in good compliance with national standards. The evaluated QC parameters showed kilovoltage accuracy ranging from 0.4-6.9% for panoramic units and 0.2-3.9% for intraoral units. Kilovoltage reproducibility ranging from 0.0-3.0% for panoramic units and 0.1-3.3% for intraoral units. Exposure time accuracy ranging from 0.0-2.7% for panoramic units and 0.0-0.8% for intraoral units. Time precision ranging from 0.0-4.4% for panoramic units and 0.0-1.4% for intraoral units. Kilovoltage with change of mA ranging from 0.7-5.9% for panoramic units and 0.3% for intraoral unit. Output radiation reproducibility ranging from 0.1-4.0% for panoramic units and 0.0-0.03% for intraoral units. Output radiation with the change of mA ranging from 0.04–3.9% for panoramic units and 0.2% for intraoral unit. Total filtration exceeded 1.5 mmAl for kV lower than 70 as well as 2.5 mmAl for kV greater than 70. Radiation dose ranging between 30-80μGy/mAs. Based on the findings, this study demonstrated that all dental X-ray units routinely subjected to QC program in dental practices met the acceptable criteria of our national standards, ensuring adequate radiation protection for patients.
Key words: dental radiography, panoramic equipment, intraoral, quality control tests, X- ray radiation.